Air-brake valve



June 12, '1923. 1,458,882Y

F. E. HARRIS A IR BRAKE VALVE Fnac; May 17, 1921 IWW A01-omar HIR ERHKETVM/ER Y (l-N Patented June 12, 1923.

FRANK EMERON HARRIS, 0F LARAMIE, WYOMING.

' AIR-BRAKE VALVE.

'Application led May 17, 1921. Serial No. 470,421.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK EMERON HAR- RIS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Laramie, in the county of Albany and State ofWyoming, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Air- BrakeValves, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to air brake systems, and the purpose of myinvention is Athe provision of a valve therefor adapted to be interposedbetween the triple valve and brake cylinder for controlling-the passageof air to and from the brake cylinder in accordance with the pressure ofair in the train line.

I will describe one form of air brake valve embodying my invention andwill then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Y Figure 1 is a view showing in vertical section' one form of air brakevalve embodying my invention.- l

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the valve in closedposition, v

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of a vtriple valvefshowino' thevalve of the present invention applied and in longitudinalv section. v

Similar reference characters refer to simi-v lar parts in each oftheseveral views. Y

Referring specific-ally to the drawings, my invention in its presentembodiment comprises a cylinder designated at C one end of 4which isclosed and provided with a de-l pending extension 15 formed with ya duct16 co-extensive in length with the extension and communicating with thecylinder. The freeend of the extension 15 is screw threaded e-Xteriorlyto permit of its association with a triple valve of standard form fromwhich latter air is su plied to the cylinder through the duct 16. djacent the lower end of the cylinder, a port 17 is provided whichcommunicates with a duct 18 intermediate the ends of thea-latter.y 4Theduct`18 is formed in the side wall ofthe cylinder, the lbottom wall, andthe extension 15 in the manner clearly shown in Figures 1 and2, with`the upper endadapted to communicate with the cylinder. at apointabovethev port 17, and

its lower end adapted to communicate withV the brake Cylinder of an airbrake system.

The upper end of the cylinder C is closed by a screw plug 19 threadedlytted within the cylinder and having its lower, side formed with a convexportion 20 which provides a positioning projection for the upper end ofa coiled expansible spring 21. The spring 21 is designed for the purposeof normally urging a piston P downwardly, toward the lowery end of thecylinder, such piston including a head 22 and a sleeve 23 upstandingfrom and integrally formed with the yhead and havino' sliding contactwith the wall of the cy inder. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the lowerside of the head 22 isconcaved and at the periphery is formed with anannularbead 22a which in the lowermost position of the head is adaptedto seat within an annular groove 22h. Adjacentr the juncture of the head22 and the sleeve 23, the latter is bent inwardly to provide an annulargroove 24 which communicates with a port 25 formed in the sleeve atsuchA a pointthat 'when the piston is in thev position shown in FigureY1 it vwillregister n with the upper end of the lduct 18.

They upper end of the cylinder C threadedly receivesa hood or cap 26which houses the plug 4'19 and protects the latter from being tornloosejfrom the cylinder. At a point directly beneaththe hood, the wallof the i cylinder is formedk with a` port 27 adapted to effectcommunication between the cylinder and atmosphere when the sleeve 23 isin the lowered position as shownin Figure 2.

The air brake retainer" heretoforel 'described may be associated withany type of triple valve so proper connections can be made. f Theso-called H4 quick action freight triple valve is of the Westinghousemanufacture and particularly suited forthe application of the'presentinvention and so illustrated in-Figure 3 of the drawings.,l As shown inFigure 3 the-extension 15 of the airV brakeretainer'and cylinder isextended through a suitable openingin the 'wall-of the triple'valvewhichmay be `generally referred to by the reference character T, so thatthe duct16is in communication with thepassage which would lead vtothefauXiliary air reservoir and its duct 18 iny communij thereof will bemade. The description to follow will relate to the manner in which theautomatic air brake retainer valve of the present invention operates forthe purposes heretofore mentioned.

As shown in Figure 3 of the drawings the slide valve S is in itsreleased position. The air pressure coming from the train line pipe hasbeen delivered to the auxiliary reservoir and the pressure in thereservoir equal to the train line pipe pressure. The spring 21 may beadjusted by the plug 10 to offer any desired resistance. Assuming thatthe y spring 21 would offer 8O lbs. resistance to compression; thenwhen' the pressure from the train line becomes greater than 8O lbs., itwill cause the plungerv22 to move upwardly closing port 27 andpermitting air to pass through the port 17 into the passage 18 and fromthence through port 25 into thecha'mber containing the spring 21. Airwill also escape from the lower end of the passage 18 into the passage Pand from' thence beneath the slide valve S. If the slide' valve S is inits full release position it will permit the air to escape to theatmosphere. If the slide valve is not in its release position the airmust proceed to the brake cylinder. Air will continue to iiow from theauxiliary reservoir through the bra-ke cylinder until the spring 21combined with the air pressure therein overcomes the air pressure belowthe plunger 22 whereupon the plunger 22 will move downwardly closing theport 17. Thev plunger 22 will however not fully seat but remain in a lapposition and still keeping the port 27 closed so that air cannot escapeto the atmosphere.

If the brake cylinder is defective on account of leakage the sameoperation will be repeated as long as the same pressure is maintained inthe train line.

By this operation it will be seen that air of a predetermined pressureis automatically supplied to the brake cylinder and that when the air insuch cylinder has reached this predetermined pressure a further supplyof air to the cylinder is automatically discontinued. By increasing thepressure in the train line, however, it will be clear that the operationof theY valve will be repeated and thus increasing the pressure in thebrake cylinder in direct proportion to the increase in pressure to thetrain line.

To discharge the rair from the brake cylinder it is necessary that thepressure of air in the train line be reduced below the pressure exertedon the piston head 22 by a springl 21 and air within the chamberoccupied by the spring 21. The piston will then be forced to a positionshown in Figure 2 thus opening the port 27. If the train lineis raisedto such a pressure it will cause the slide valve S to come to itsrelease position, the air in the brake cylinder will then be permittedto esca-pe through the exhaust port 27 of the automatic airbr'alrevretainer.

y By virtue of the plug 19 being threadedly fitted within the upper endof the cylinder C, it will b'e clear that such plug is adjustable tovary the tension of the spring 21 and consequently the pressure exertedby they latter on the piston head 22. It will therefore be seen that inaccordance with the adjustment of the Spring 21, the necessary reductionin pressure of air in the train line in order4 to effect the dischargeof air from the brake cylinder can be varied in accordance with theadjustment of the springs.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of brake valveembodying my invention, it is tobe understood that various changes andmo'dications may be made herein without departing from the vspirit ofthe invention and the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Vhat I claim isf 1. In an air brake apparatus of the characterdescribed, including a triple valve, an auxiliary reservoir and a brakecylinder, in combination, a valve connected with the exhaust of saidtriple valve and adapted to establish an axhaust for said triple valvewhen the triple valve is in its released position and also adapted toestablish communication with the auxiliary reservoir and the brakecylinder u'pon the pressure within the auxiliary reservoir reaching apredetermined degree.

2. A brake valve, of the character described comprising a cylinderhaving one end thereof closed and provided with an extension, a ductformed .in the extension, a second-duct formed in the extension with oneend terminating in the cylinder an'd the other end terminatingexteriorly of the cylinder, a port formed in the cylinder adjacent itsclosed end and having communication between the cylinder andthe secondduct, a piston working within the cylinder and including a head movabletocontrol said port, and a sleeve on and movable with the head, a portformedA in the sleeve l.and adapted to register with the upper end ofthe second duct, a second port formed in said cylinder and controlled bysaid sleeve, a plug adjustably tted in the open end of the cylinder, andan expansible spring within said sleeve and between said plug and headfor urging the latter downwardly of the cylinder. A A

3. In an air brake system of the character described, including a triplevalve adapted to be connected with an air pressure pipe, an auxiliaryreservoir and a brake cylinder, in combination, a valve associated withthe exhaust of the triple valve and adapted to open the same when thetriple valve has resumed itsbrake release position and also adapted toestablish communication between the auxiliary air reservoir and thebrake cylinder during the interval that the pipe pressure is above thatnecessary for fully charging said auxiliary reservoir.

4. An air brake valve comprising a'cylinder, ducts communicating Withthe cylinder, ports in the cylinder for eifecting communication betweenthe ducts and cyl inder and connecting the cylinder to atmos` phere, apiston Within the cylinder and comprising a head for controlling one ofthe ports and a sleeve for controlling another of the ports, a portformed in the sleeve and adapted to register Withone of the ducts, and aspring engageable With the head for normally urging the latter to apredetermined position Within the cylinder.

5. An air brake valve comprising a cylinder, ducts communicating withthe cylinder, ports in the cylinder for eii'ecting communication betweenthe ducts and cylinder and connecting the cylinder to atmosphere,l apiston Within the cylinder and comprising a head for controlling one ofthe ports and a sleeve for controlling another of the ports7 a portformed in the sleeve and adapted to register with one of the ducts, aspringengageable with the head for normally urging the latter to apredetermined positionl with- 6. A brake valve governor of the char-` iacter described, comprising a cylinder having one end thereof closed andprovided with an extension, said extension having a centrallongitudinally extending bore and a duct, said duct terminating at itsone end in the cylinder and its other end exteriorly of the cylindensaidcylinder also hav-ing a port adjacent its closed end which communicatesWith the duct, a piston Working Within the cylinder and including a headmovable to control `the port, yand a sleeve extension from said headformed With `a port adapted to be brought into register with the upperend of the duct, and said cylinder having itsV other end yvvith relationtothe extension formed with a second port adapted to be controlled bysaid sleeve, a plug adjustably fitted in the upper end of the las'tnamed end of the cylinder, and an expansible spring interposed betweensaid plug and said head and disposed Within said sleeve.

FRANK nMERoN HARRIS. i

